


The Blink of an Eye

by SloanGreyMercyDeath



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: F/F, Feelings, Soulmate AU, not a lot to put here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-19
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:47:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28163421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SloanGreyMercyDeath/pseuds/SloanGreyMercyDeath
Summary: You see your soulmate just before you close your eyes and just before you hear something.
Relationships: Jennifer "JJ" Jareau/Emily Prentiss
Comments: 6
Kudos: 115





	The Blink of an Eye

There is a moment, right before JJ closes her eyes, when she sees her soulmate clear as day. She sees the dark-haired, dark-eyed woman standing right in front of her, grinning and laughing and shining brightly. JJ lets her eyes drift closed just to catch a glimpse of this woman. That’s when you can see your soulmate - right before you close your eyes.

Sometimes, just before she hits play on a new song, she hears this woman’s voice. Sometimes, she’s speaking English, but, sometimes, it’s French, or Spanish, or Russian, or something else that JJ doesn’t recognize. When she’s 12 and she’s already heard several new languages, JJ starts learning Spanish. She figures that, if her soulmate speaks another language, then she should, too.

She’s not really good at it. It takes her a long time to even get conversational, but she tries her best. She also reads Vonnegut because she hears her soulmate say something about it before having the strangest dreams about cabins in the Alps. JJ tries to be exactly the kind of person her soulmate would meet and fall in love with.

By the time she’s 22 and graduating college, JJ is one of the only people she knows who hasn’t found their soulmate. Most people find them young. I mean, you can see them in that half-second before you blink and you hear them just before you hear something else, so they _should_ be pretty easy to find. JJ decides to go to grad school at Georgetown and wonders if she’s just been in the wrong place.

When she joins the FBI, she waits to meet her soulmate on a case. Will it be the next police chief, the next grieving sister, the next reporter? It’s none of those people. When she’s 25, the glimpses and the whispers change. Suddenly, her soulmate looks different. She has bangs and wears beige and always seems a little out of place. The whispers tell her that her soulmate is undercover, that she’s in constant danger, that she’s sleeping with a bad man.

JJ had to listen to her soulmate with other people before. When she was 7, she heard her soulmate have sex for the first time. It was an awful, earth-shattering experience, but it wasn’t as bad as hearing her soulmate cry, or be screamed at, or lose her faith and friends. JJ knows that when she finally meets this mysterious dark-haired woman, she’ll have to be patient with her.

From what she’s gathered, her soulmate has been through a lot. She’s been tortured, hurt, lied to, and heart broken. JJ made a deal with herself years ago that when she met the woman she’s only seen in half seconds, she’ll be nothing but kind to her.

One day, she’s in her office, trying to do paperwork, bored out of her mind. Her stomach has been hurting all day and she isn’t sure why. JJ has always had a strong constitution, but her whole body has felt _off_ since she woke up. Like she usually does when she wants a distraction, she blinks rapidly and creates a stop motion film of her soulmate.

That’s why she notices. That’s why she sees her soulmate, moving jerkily between her lashes as she blinks as fast as she can, walk through the BAU’s glass doors. That’s why she sees her soulmate look around confused, like deja vu has sent her out of time.

JJ jumps to her feet, hearing the quiet chatter of the bullpen just before her office door clicks open. She does her best not to run down the hall, walking quickly instead, blood rushing in her ears. Her soulmate is here, in the bullpen, mere feet away, and JJ is going to find her.

She storms through the BAU's glass doors and catches a woman carrying a brown box knock on Hotch’s office door. The woman enters, the sound of the lock hitting JJ’s ears before being echoed by the actual sound. She does break into a run then, ignoring the looks her team is giving her, racing up the ramp to Hotch’s office. She bursts into the room as her soulmate shakes Hotch’s hand.

Time seems to slow as her soulmate turns to look at her. All JJ can see and hear and feel is the reality of this woman in front of her, dark hair and eyes sharp and perfect. She’s only vaguely aware of Hotch leaving them alone together. The entire world is narrowed to their eye contact.

“Emily,” JJ breathes, the name appearing in her mind. “Emily Prentiss. Are you ok?”

The woman in front of her crumbles and JJ jumps forward to catch her. Emily’s skin against her own feels like lightning, but JJ clings tightly to the woman crying in her arms. She knows exactly what Emily has been through and knows that she’s been holding herself together for so long. She deserves this break.

“I’m so sorry,” Emily sobs into JJ’s shoulder. She finally wraps her arms around JJ’s waist, tugging her even closer. “I’m so sorry you had to see all of that. I’m so sorry that you have to hate me.”

“Hate you?” JJ repeats, pulling away just enough to lift Emily’s head and meet her eyes again. “Emily, I could never hate you. I just wish I’d found you sooner. I wish I could have been there for you.”

Emily gasps, wiping her face with a quick swipe of a hand. “You were! JJ, you were the only thing keeping me going! Watching you… You’re so strong and I wanted to be just as strong. I wanted to last long enough to meet you.”

“God, Emily,” JJ laughs, tears filling her eyes, “you’re too good for me. You’re so good.”

Emily kisses her, pushing JJ backward until she hits the door. Their bodies fit together perfectly, each part of one molding easily to the other. They were made for each other and the way they breathe in rhythm, tongues slide in rhythm, JJ’s legs part just as Emily’s thigh pushes forward, prove that they are two halves of a whole.

They still have to get to know each other. Quick glimpses make a list of seconds that add up to a life, but memories don’t equal conversations and there is so much left to learn. JJ wants to know every detail of the missing time. What happened between blinks and snatches of sound? JJ will spend the rest of her life finding out.

“I can’t wait to love you,” Emily sighs, trailing her lips along JJ’s jaw. “I can’t wait to learn your details and love you.”

JJ’s head falls back against the door as she loses herself to Emily’s mouth. “Let me help you,” she whispers. “Let me carry your bad thoughts.”

“Only if you lend me some of your light,” Emily negotiates as she places featherlight kisses along JJ’s collarbone. “I need it. I need you. I need you to find me.”

“I see you,” JJ assures her. She manages to put her hands on Emily’s shoulders and pushes her away. “I’m not losing my virginity in Hotch’s office, though. I’m sorry.”

Emily grins, raising her eyebrows. “I forgot. You’re right. You deserve a wonderful first time and I’ll give you that. Will he let you leave early?”

“Of course,” JJ laughs, shrugging. “He’s only my boss in name.”

“Good.” Emily frowns for a moment, looking toward her brown box. “I might need your help actually. I can’t exactly tell him about…”

“I’ll vouch for you,” JJ says. She gently turns Emily’s head toward hers again. “I’ve got you. Forever. We’re in this together now.”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too, soulmate.”


End file.
